The government remains vigilant about the difficulties of food aid

2023-12-04 20:29:58

Published on Dec 4 2023 at 6:23 p.m. Updated Dec 4 2023 at 7:29 p.m.

This is an issue that the government continues to follow with great attention. Three months after the alarm signal sounded by the Restos du coeur on their financial situation, the Minister of the Economy, Bruno Le Maire, and the Minister of Solidarity, Aurore Bergé, received this Monday their president, Patrice Douret, then that the additional means put on the table for food aid in 2024 are not yet completely convincing.

This meeting was to act as a milestone, while the announcement, at the beginning of September, of a hole of 35 million euros in the finances of the association, founded in 1985 by Coluche, to complete its annual budget had put the executive under pressure. This has since provided around ten million additional euros for the benefit of Restos du coeur, which has also seen an influx of donations from individuals and businesses. So much so that the budgetary hole is almost filled.

Food insecurity

But this is not enough to make all the financial problems of Restos du coeur, and those involved in food aid in general, disappear. A report published a few days ago by senators Arnaud Bazin (LR) and Eric Bocquet (PCF) – on the occasion of the examination in the Upper House of the 2024 appropriations of the Ministry of Solidarity – recalls the difficulties of the sector, which “faces an ‘insoluble equation’ while France is experiencing a worrying increase in food insecurity.”

In fact, Restos du coeur, like other food aid players, must manage a triple crisis. First there is that caused by inflation, which puts a significant number of households in difficulty. According to the French Federation of Food Banks (FFBA), the increase in demand for food aid would represent “more than 200,000 additional people welcomed by associations”, recalls the report.

The latter also points to the surge in food costs, which is weighing on the budgets of players in the sector. For Restos du coeur, the credits devoted to food purchases are “almost doubled for the period 2023-2024” compared to 2021-2022. Finally, third problem, donations are decreasing, in particular those from mass distribution which “has less surplus as a result of actions to combat waste”.

Budget 2024 and up

These difficulties do not seem to be contested by the government, as evidenced by the decisions taken for the 2024 budget. The initial finance law unveiled at the end of September provides for a 21.6% increase in credits allocated to food aid (excluding European funds) , going from 117.2 million in 2023 to 142.5 million in 2024. The government added 40 million euros, taken from the general budget of the previous year. So the total envelope is 182 million in 2024, compared to 156 million in 2023.

Is it up to the crisis? The senators’ report considers the credits provided in the initial finance law for 2024 “insufficient in relation to needs”. One of the problems comes from the fact that the increase in resources focuses “on two items of expenditure which cannot be mobilized to respond to the emergency” – a financial mechanism linked to European funds, and the “eat better for all” who wants to improve the quality of the food aid offer. The report calls for “strengthening support for associations”.